UTEP athletic director Bob Stull told the team during Wednesday's practice that the Miners have accepted an invitation to play in the EV1.net Houston Bowl. The Miners will face one of three Big 12 opponents at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 29 -- a Wednesday -- at Reliant Stadium, home of the NFL's Houston Texans.
Iowa State (6-4, 4-2 in the Big 12) appears to be the most likely candidate to play UTEP. Also possibilities are Nebraska (5-5, 3-4), Oklahoma State (7-3, 4-3) and Colorado (6-4, 3-4).

The Miners are ranked 24th in the Associated Press poll and 25th in the ESPN/USA Today poll and are listed 24th in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are 23rd in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls and are 22nd in the Bowl Championship Series standings.

"It's great for the team; it's a perfect bowl for us," Miners head coach Mike Price said. "It's a perfect bowl for recruiting. We're grateful for the Houston Bowl wanting us and grateful to the WAC, especially (commissioner) Karl Benson."

The Miners' destination comes as something of a surprise.

UTEP was projected as a possible participant in many bowl games. They included the Las Vegas Bowl, the Fort Worth Bowl and the three bowls with Western Athletic Conference tie-ins -- the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho; the Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu; and the Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif.

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But no projections had UTEP in Houston. The five bowls considered candidates for UTEP all pay out $750,000 a team. The Houston Bowl pays $1.1 million.

Normally, the bowl would have pitted a Big 12 team against a Southeastern Conference team. But Houston Bowl officials said the SEC couldn't provide a team, so they looked for a nationally ranked team to bring in.

One of the SEC's eligible teams, South Carolina, will not accept a bowl bid -- punishment for players who brawled toward the end of Saturday's game against Clemson.

Price has received national attention for UTEP by guiding a turnaround for the 8-2 Miners, who went 2-11 last year and won only six games total during Gary Nord's final three years coaching the team, 2001-03.

Stull said the date, the opponent and the ability to draw fans from El Paso, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio were the deciding factors.

"The opportunity to play a Big 12 team in Reliant Stadium (played into the decision), and I like the dates," Stull said. "It's after Christmas and before New Year's. It's a good period of time to play. It's a good time for people to come over from Houston, San Antonio, Dallas area. It's just a great opportunity for those people to come over and watch us play.

"Everybody would prefer us to wait until things cleared up, but quite frankly, no matter what happened over the weekend, we felt it was the best bowl game for us," he said, "whether Boise State ended up in the BCS (or not). I talked to six different bowl games the last two days. There were all kinds of potential things that could have happened.

"But coach Price and (UTEP President) Diana Natalicio thought the best situation for our fans and for us was Houston. For us to wait longer when we had the opportunity to grab it now didn't make sense. For us, it wasn't going to change. Our goal and our thought process was not going to change. They were very excited about us and wanted to move forward. We wanted to seize that opportunity."

Benson said he had hoped UTEP would wait until the WAC bowl picture cleared up before going with the Houston Bowl, which is not a WAC-affiliated bowl.

"I'm aware that discussions were going on for the last 24 hours between UTEP, the WAC and the Houston Bowl," Benson said. "I'm disappointed (UTEP) wasn't able to wait until next week (so) that things could unfold more. But I understand why UTEP liked it and decided to make the decision."

A win Saturday in the regular-season finale at Tulsa would give UTEP a nine-win season for the first time since 1988.

But win or lose, it's on to Houston.

"I'm pumped about the location; I'm pumped for the fans and for the guys on the team," middle linebacker and native El Pasoan Robert Rodriguez said.

"The guys on the team deserve it. We feel like we can go out and play with (the Big 12). We want to show (these Big 12 schools) that they made a mistake in passing up on some of these guys."

Defensive lineman Alex Obomese and linebacker Godwin Akinduro lived in Houston before playing at UTEP. "I get to go home," Obomese said. "It's the first time I get to play in front of my family. Personally, I'm excited about playing in Houston."

Akinduro said, "It's great. I'll get to show people back home my ability. And going up against a Big 12 team, we'll get to show them what we're made of."

Houston Bowl Chairman J. Shea Guinn said, "Everyone in Houston is thrilled to have UTEP coming to town for the EV1.net Houston Bowl. The Miners have been a great story this year with their fantastic turnaround. It's going to be a great matchup for the fans. Houston is going to roll out the red carpet for everyone in El Paso and UTEP alums throughout the state."

Natalicio said, "We are delighted to be able to participate in a bowl where our fans and alumni across the state can follow us."

UTEP will be making its 11th bowl appearance, and its first since 2000, when the Miners participated in the Crucial.com Humanitarian Bowl in Boise. UTEP is 5-5 in bowl games.

It will be Price's sixth bowl game as coach. He was 3-2 in bowl games as the head coach at Washington State from 1989 to 2002.